1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus for displaying a two-dimensional image of an object including a three-dimensional object.
2) Description of the Related Art
In order to reproduce a three-dimensional image, a polarizing method is often used, in which a viewer wears polarizing glasses for viewing left and right parallax images based on different polarized states with respect to each other. However, such method is cumbersome for the viewer since wearing the polarizing glasses is necessary.
On the other hand, there is a known three-dimensional image display apparatus which does not use the polarizing glasses, such as a displaying method which uses a lenticular lens in order to provide viewer's eyes with parallax images corresponding to left and right images, and thus the viewer can recognize a three-dimensional image. In such apparatus, two parallax images respectively composed of strip-shaped images are alternately arranged one after another. Consequently, resolution of the image is reduced by half when displaying the three-dimensional image.
A three-dimensional image display apparatus has been proposed which utilizes polarizing means when viewing the three-dimensional image by using the lenticular lens. The polarizing means includes polarizing boards which are arranged one after another in a predetermined direction with a predetermined pitch. Each polarizing board has an individual polarizing axis which intersects at a right angle to a polarizing axis of the adjacent board. Consequently, an unnecessary reflection from a display surface is prevented and problems such as a moire and a color gap are reduced (for example, Japanese Patent Kokai No. 10-221644).
In any conventional three-dimensional image display apparatuses, the parallax images corresponding to left and right eye images are necessary from the beginning, i.e., when picking up the images of the object, and therefore, a number of means are necessary for creating such images.
In order to view the three-dimensional image using the conventional lenticular lens, utilization of a special image is necessary. The special image is made by synthesizing strip-shaped images originating from two or more images, which are respectively obtained by viewing the object from two or more directions. Accordingly, there is a need for an image display apparatus which can provide a three-dimensional image from an ordinary photograph or a picture, and thus which does not require two or more images obtained by viewing the object from two or more directions.